Close Sri Lanka 314 for 3 (Atapattu 133*, Jayawardene 107)
scorecard

Blazing sunshine, a flat track, and no moisture in the air whatsoever, except that found on the brows of 11 increasingly frazzled England cricketers. Sri Lanka surprised everybody except themselves and England's pessimistic selectors by grabbing the first Test at Lord's by the scruff of the neck.

After winning the toss and choosing to bat on an inviting wicket, Sri Lanka reveled in subcontinental conditions to rack up an imposing 314 for 3 at the close of the first day's play. Marvan Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene both scored glittering centuries in a third-wicket stand of 206, and the old pro Aravinda de Silva slipped effortlessly back into the groove after an absence of 11 Tests. Lord's in May is simply not meant to be like this.

England had talked up Sri Lanka's prospects - not least their remarkable run of nine wins in a row - but they surely never expected their words to be backed up by actions. And yet, Sri Lanka's recent batting record is irresistibly good: for the first time in Test history, every one of the top six has a double century under their belt, and in the first innings of seven of their last nine Tests the team have scored at least 500.

Given the wicket's reputation, Atapattu and Jayasuriya began sensibly, adding 38 for the first wicket before Jayasuriya chanced Michael Vaughan's arm and was foolishly run out for 18. The drinks break then accounted for a nervy Kumar Sangakkara (10), who fished at a wide one from Hoggard and offered catching practice to Andrew Flintoff at second slip, and at 55 for 2, England were one wicket away from a good morning's work.

That wicket steadfastly refused to come, in the morning or afternoon. By tea Atapattu and Jayawardene had added 162 for the third wicket, despite Jayawardene requiring a runner after inside-edging an attempted pull off Flintoff into his groin, and England had resorted to quibbling repeatedly about the state of the ball. It was clear, on a shirtfront of a wicket, that they were missing the inventiveness of Darren Gough. Only Flintoff really did himself justice.

Atapattu did have one moment of good fortune when, on 46, he survived an appeal for a run-out in the first over after lunch, and he reached his 50 with a streaky edge through the slip cordon, but the pair were chanceless thereafter, latching onto some wayward fare from an uninspired attack. Andrew Caddick was especially disappointing, regularly drifting onto the pads, and though Matthew Hoggard and Dominic Cork found plenty of swing, they were unable to maintain a consistent line.

Jayawardene, limping like an Asian Gordon Greenidge, was savage on both sides of the wicket and raised his ninth Test century - and his first overseas - with the 16th four of his innings. He was eventually snared by Flintoff, who persuaded him to prod tamely to Marcus Trescothick at midwicket for 107. Atapattu, who scored 132 not out on his last visit to Lord's (the Emirates Trophy final in 1998) was joined by de Silva, and was 133 not out at the close, with his sights clearly set on his sixth Test double century. Given the resolve he has shown so far, few would bet against him.

Teams
England 1 Marcus Trescothick, 2 Michael Vaughan, 3 Mark Butcher, 4 Nasser Hussain (capt), 5 Graham Thorpe, 6 John Crawley, 7 Andrew Flintoff, 8 Alec Stewart (wk), 9 Dominic Cork, 10 Andrew Caddick, 11 Matthew Hoggard Sri Lanka 1 Sanath Jayasuriya (capt), 2 Marvan Atapattu, 3 Kumar Sangakkara (wk), 4 Mahela Jayawardene, 5 Aravinda de Silva, 6 Russel Arnold, 7 Hashan Tillekaratne, 8 Chaminda Vaas, 9 Nuwan Zoysa, 10 Ruchira Perera, 11 Charitha Buddika

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